BELCHERTOWN – The Belchertown football team gave itself the only shot it ever asked for against Lee on Friday at home: the ball with time running down and a chance to go win the game.
The Orioles offense lined up at the Lee 25 yard line with two minutes remaining, trailing by six. Quarterback Nolan Otto had struggled in the second half but had hit two of his previous three passes to put the Orioles in striking distance.
Belchertown couldn’t gain another yard. Four consecutive incompletions gave the ball back to Lee, and the Wildcats ran out the remaining time to leave Belchertown with a 12-6 Intercounty League South victory to end the regular season.
“I will forever take my athletes over any athletes, so yeah, get them out in space and let my quarterback do his thing with the ball,” Belchertown coach Dan McCarthy said. “Unfortunately we didn’t get the outcome we wanted with the pass.”
It would have been a final, dramatic swing in a game that featured many.
Belchertown (2-5) initially took the lead in the waning moments of the first quarter.
The Wildcats pushed Belchertown to a fourth down and 10 after a bad snap, run for no gain and an incompletion.
The Orioles lined up in a Wildcat formation with running back Landon Andre receiving the snap. Lee expected a punt and couldn’t move its safeties up the field fast enough. Andre hit Eli Sayball-Wimmer up the middle of the field for a 14-yard gain that kept the drive alive. Three plays later, Otto linked with Sayball-Wimmer for a 30-yard touchdown up the left sideline with 37.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Belchertown’s defense held on Lee’s next possession, then reached the red zone again after Otto found Andrew Fijal for a 40-yard gain to the Wildcats 12. Two holding penalties sandwiched around a run for no gain made it fourth and 30, so the Orioles punted. Erik Magner dropped the kick at the Lee 1, and Belchertown’s defense held Lee to end the quarter.
The Orioles also started the second half with the ball but struggled to generate offense through the air. Otto threw an interception, but Belchertown’s defense forced a fumble on a screen pass.
Belchertown’s offense went three and out, then Lee blocked the forthcoming punt and Alex DelVecchio returned it to the Orioles 9.
The black and orange defense stood strong again, stuffing three runs in a row, then Matthew Tilton knocked down a Hayden Siok pass on fourth down to get the ball back. After a false start, the Orioles had one incompletion and another interception that gave Lee the ball back at the Belchertown 10.
Tyler Bartini ran twice and gained eight yards, then Cam Freeman took it to the 1. Lee went right back to Freeman, and he burrowed in for the game-tying score with 3:03 left in the third.
“They’re a scrappy team. They had us on the ropes there for a while,” Lee coach Keith Thomson said of Belchertown. “Our kids knew what was at stake and they made the plays when they had to.”
The teams traded punts to start the fourth, then Belchertown turned the ball over on downs. Lee turned to running back Elliot Winston. He carried the ball three times for 30 yards amidst six consecutive runs to the Orioles 20. Then came the counter punch. Siok faked a handoff then threw deep down the right sideline to Dylan Ely, who caught the 20-yard touchdown behind the Belchertown corner before the Orioles safety could rotate over.
“We were struggling with the pass game. The corners on Belchertown were doing a great job stopping the run,” Ely said. “The running game playing as well as it did allowed the passing game to open up and helped me get that touchdown.”
After the Orioles final drive fell short, the teams shook hands and headed in different directions for the rest of the season. Lee cemented its place in the Division 8 state tournament field, while Belchertown will prepare for a consolation game with its eyes toward the annual Thanksgiving matchup with Pathfinder.
“I couldn’t be prouder. These guys played for each other and that’s all I want,” McCarthy said. “The foundation is set for this program.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.